Why Afghanistan Won’t be Another Vietnam

When speaking of the current Afghan War, many keep on drawing comparisons between this current mission and the Vietnam War in the 1960’s. Comparisons between President Karzai and President Diem, how the Americans have entered a war that can’t be won, and the Afghan training program in parallel to the Vietnamization programs in the past. It is true, there are some similarities between Vietnam and Afghanistan, but despite these similarities, the evidence will soon show that the reasons for American involvement in these wars are very much different form each other. Furthermore, I also believe that because of these reasons, the outcome of America’s mission in Afghanistan will be much different as well.

First of all, the American involvement in Afghanistan is arguably much more justified than their intervention in Vietnam 40 years ago. Ho Chi Minh and the Communists never attacked America on their own soil as Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda had done on September 11, 2001. Therefore, it cannot be reasoned that the U.S. mission in Afghanistan is that much like the war in Vietnam. When Bin Laden devastated the World Trade Centre, killing thousands of innocent Americans, he declared war on the U.S.A. In contrast, the North Vietnamese never declared war the the United States, so the initial catalysts of the respective wars are not the same.

What took place in Vietnam was a domestic affair, a civil war that America had no reason to involve themselves in the first place. The Afghan War may also be a civil war, but the terrorist organizations of Al Qaeda and the Taliban are also targeting U.S. citizens. They commit atrocious acts, not just on the Afghan people alone, but on the American people as well. The Vietcong were a threat to the people of South Vietnam and the continent of Asia, but they never posed such a threat to the United States. In fighting alongside the Afghan forces, the U.S. is containing the Taliban, successfully preventing them from gaining ground in the Middle East.

It’s been ten years in Afghanistan and the U.S. has lost nearly 1,500 soldiers. In the same timespan that the U.S. spent in Vietnam, over 58,000 American lives were lost. These numbers indicate that the Vietnam War was much more costly than the current Afghan War. Not only that, the United States is actually fighting for a relevant cause in this Afghan mission: confronting and neutralizing the terrorist threats of Al Qaeda and the Taliban. The American presence in Afghanistan helps keep the Taliban at bay, helping to maintain stability in the cities.

If the U.S. stayed out of Vietnam in 1963, the consequences would have been much less costly to the American people. The same can’t be said today, for if the U.S. stayed out of Afghanistan, the Taliban would cause much suffering to the Afghan people, and Al Qaeda would cause much more damage to the U.S. national security. Furthermore, the U.S. are supported by many coalition forces in Afghanistan, including Canada, Britain, Germany, etc., because the reasons for involvement are important to the safety of the world. The global community may not agree on all aspects of the Afghan War, but it is safe to say that they’ve reached a consensus in dealing with Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda.

The world never supported the American involvement in Vietnam. It was a mistake of the U.S. in believing that they can intervene in the affairs of a distant country that has no connection to their own. They were afraid of the “domino effect,” and the spread of the Communist wave, an idea that proved to be false. Things are much different in this Afghan mission. American involvement in Afghanistan is more widely supported by the world community. The Afghan forces keep the Taliban at bay, and the only supporters of these terrorists forces are minorities from the countryside, and the sellers of narcotics. That is why I disregard the notion that Afghanistan will be just another Vietnam. I believe that the U.S. is doing the right thing, and that in time, the Afghan people will prevail over the Taliban and Al Qaeda.

4 Responses to “Why Afghanistan Won’t be Another Vietnam”

This is a very thought out analysis. One important factor involved in the Afgan war was this the American has learned a good lesson in the Vienam War. The American are not so arrogant as when they enter the Afgan War as they had enter the Vietnam war. They becam so arrogant after winning the War II. They thought their foreces were unbeatable. They were wrong in Vietnam soil. They have learned the lesson that know thyself and know thy enemy is crucial for war strategies. I hope this time they will win the terorism war.

I like this to a certain extent. The one hang up is on the phrase “arguably more justified”. Does anyone question the US involvement in WWII after Pearl Harbor? Those men and women were for the most part enlisted soldiers. They knew the risk. Flying planes into buildings full of men women and children, is more despicable in every way shape and form, and the only thing that has changed is us. No longer can any of us say “Better them than us”. Everyone is so damn caught up in political correctness and making sure everyone gets their rights. Dont bite the hand that feeds you, aka you only get rights if you agree to the responsibilities of my great nation. If anything the only thing stopping absolute victory in Afghanistan is how far we are willing to go. People have lost sight of what war is. People die, innocent and not. People kill, there is pain and suffering. But thats war. War is a necessary evil, but war is pain and death. Not Anderson Cooper reporting near a ‘skirmish’. War is not about nice, or trying to reason, its about winning. Pure simple darwinian evolution. Win or die

Afghanistan could never be like Vietnam when a thousand Americans were being Slaughtered a month in 1967,68,69 and with 10 times that many Vietnamese, Cambodian and Laotian Dead, with 35 percent of the American dead being DRAFTEES. No it could never ever be like VIETNAM.